The Cat and the Mouse
by xThexFightingxIrishx
Summary: Bob Lee Swagger has been in hiding for a while. But, when Andi Rhodes and the rest of her team are assigned to track him down and bring him into custody, things take a bit of a turn. Rhodes' group DOES manage to capture Swagger. But we all know he's not going down without a fight. Will Rhodes be able to bring him in or not? Will they both make it out alive? FILLED with twists!
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**** Well, this is another one that I had just sitting around. So I figured that I'd go ahead and post it too, keep those that wanted to read my stuff occupied for a while. But this is all about the lovely Bob Lee Swagger. So I hope you enjoy it. I've got 6 chapters already done and I'm going to be posting them all.**

**Chapter 1:**

~*_Andi_*~

Andi Rhodes was skimming over the information in the file of the criminal her and her team were currently hunting. Her eyes rushed over the details of his profile first, trying to commit his description to her memory.

Bob Lee Swagger

White Male

36 Years of Age

Brown Hair

Hazel Eyes

5'7"

170 lbs.

Muscular build

Wanted for the murder of Desmond DuCafry and Lyle O' Leary

Ex-Marine Gunnery Sargent, Scout Sniper, Framed for the attempted murder of the President of the United States and the murder of the Archbishop of Ethiopia, All charges dropped upon the discovery that his weapons were made unable to fire

Andi wasn't stupid though. She had never believed, not even for a SECOND, that Swagger had attempted to murder the President of the United States. Nor had he attempted to kill the Archbishop of Ethiopia. Hell he'd been recruited to help STOP the assassination by "Colonel Johnson", who they had later discovered was living under the alias of a dead military figure and who had framed Swagger in any way he could. When Swagger hadn't died like he was supposed to, "Johnson" had had the entire United States government searching for Swagger. Yet he had still managed to hide away and plan his revenge. And revenge he had gotten too. He'd taken out the man that had REALLY assassinated the Archbishop of Ethiopia, he'd gotten dirt on "Johnson", and he'd later tracked "Johnson" and the crooked Senator of Montana down. He'd killed them both and made it to look like "Johnson" had killed the Senator. And everyone in the government had known that it wasn't true. But they had looked the other way and had been happy to be rid of them both.

But now he was wanted for the murders of Desmond DuCafry and Lyle O' Leary, the men that had killed his spotter, ex-F.B.I. agent Nick Memphis. This was the SECOND spotter that Swagger had lost, having had his spotter and partner over in Africa killed by hostile forces that the men hadn't even known were supposed to be there, and Swagger hadn't taken it so kindly. He'd planned everything out, down to the T, and he'd executed it flawlessly. But not before DuCafry and O' Leary had killed his girlfriend, Sarah Fenn, on camera and mailed him the footage.

While Andi wouldn't have done anything differently than Swagger had, she also knew that she had to bring this man in. And she had NEVER failed to bring in the criminals that she and her team hunted down. They pinpointed their location and they moved in, not wasting any time and not giving their suspect any chances to run. They were there in Colorado for one purpose and one purpose only. To bring Bob Lee Swagger into custody and deliver him to the local prison, who would then transfer him to a high security prison where he would serve out whatever term they gave him. There were no questions about their mission. They KNEW what their job was.

So when Andi had received the anonymous call today about the tip that Swagger had visited a local mall right there in Colorado, she knew that Swagger had probably told someone to relay the message to her team. Hell he probably knew who was searching for him. He was a brilliant man, flawless in his means of survival and avoiding the authorities. But he also knew just how to reel them in and trick them.

So she was going to bring her entire team to the mall. Her team consisted of two women – herself and her best friend and usual partner when the team had to split up in twos, Jade Ramsey – and four men – the rookie of the group that the team was still training named Chase Mathers, a guy by the name of Danny Verona that did most of the research but was still just as eager to get out there where the action was and take down the bad guys, an ex-biker gang member named Ty Briggs that had taken the fall for his gang and then been left high and dry after he got out of the pin, and an ex-gang lord named Tripp O' Riley that had been a big time gang lord of the most notorious gang in all of Chicago but whose men left him to die when a gang war against a rival gang went terribly wrong. She trusted her team with her life, no doubt about it. One had to when they chased criminals for a living.

So now, here she was, just sitting at the kitchen table of the cabin her team was staying at, flipping through Swagger's files as she drank her coffee and waited for the rest of her team to wake their lazy asses up. Okay so they weren't lazy. But that didn't mean she couldn't tease them.

"LET'S GET THOSE ASSES MOVING!" she shouted at the top of her lungs.

There was an audible THUMP coming from upstairs and she knew that Mathers had fallen out of his bed. She shook her head and laughed to herself.

"Rookie," she commented with another little laugh.

But the trick had worked. She heard them beginning to get up and move around upstairs in their bedrooms.

A few minutes later, they all came trotting down the stairs, ready to start their morning.

"Breakfast is waiting on the counter," she informed them as her eyes raked over the picture of Bob Lee Swagger and she lifted her mug of coffee up to take another sip.

Laid out on the counter for her team was a real feast that she had prepared. There were chocolate chip pancakes, sausage links, bacon, scrambled eggs, hash browns, and sliced bananas and strawberries all just waiting to be devoured. She always tried to fix balanced meals for her team since she just INSISTED that they kept a person healthy and in top shape, as long as they were exercising too.

"Coffee's in the coffee pot, milk's in the fridge, and there's no orange juice left thanks ta Mathers 'sneaking' down here and finishin' it off last night," she informed her team.

All the rest of the team cast glares over in the newbie's direction and she just laughed, telling them, "He'll learn his lesson. Anyway, I need you all ta fill yourselves a plate and sit your asses down. I got a lead this morning. So hop to."

They all hurried over to grab a plate and start piling it high with food, the men making sure to let Jade go first since they knew that both women would kick their asses if they didn't.

Once they had all filled their plates, they gathered around the kitchen table and took their seats, waiting for their team leader to give them the rundown on the lead that she had gotten that morning while they had been asleep.

"Now I got a call this morning at 7:00 am tellin' me that ex-Marine Gunnery Sargent Bob Lee Swagger had visited a local mall here in Colorado. Now we know that, just because he visited there once before doesn't necessarily mean that he'll go there again. But we ALSO know that he's one sly son of a bitch. So he very well could've paid this person or had them working for him ta tell us that he went to the mall. If that's the case, he'll be there at some point today. I told the man ta keep us up ta date and let us know if he spotted him again. He informed me that he would," she stated.

Her entire team grinned from ear to ear.

"But what do we know about most of the stores in Colorado?" she questioned.

"Most of them don't have metal detectors since the state of Colorado has passed a law that it's legal ta carry a gun for self-defense," Verona replied, "Which means that he'll more than likely be armed today, even in a crowded mall."

"That's RIGHT," she informed him, pointing in his direction as she took one last look at Swagger's picture.

He was a man with brown hair and well-trimmed, matching sideburns, a mustache, a goatee, and a beard. His hazel eyes held an intense gaze and his features were attractive and masculine. His body was hardened with firm muscles that he had, no doubt, gained while he was in the Marines. While he wasn't the biggest man, neither tall nor overweight, he was deadly since he had been trained in the Marines not ONLY how to kill a man – and in the most efficient and tactful of ways – but also how to survive in just about any kind of situation. He knew just what areas of the human body to hit to take a man down and he knew not only how to kill a man but how to put him out for a while too. This made him a VERY dangerous man. In fact, this was going to be the hardest case they had ever taken.

"We won't be stopped when we try to bring our .45's into the mall," she explained to her team as they ate and she started to pass Swagger's picture and description around the table, "But we'll have to keep our eyes, ears, and the rest of our senses on red alert at ALL times today. Now we don't know WHEN he'll be there. But we can be sure that he WILL be there. If I know Swagger, and I've done all the research I can for this case, he's tipped someone off to the fact that he was in the mall and he had them make the call this morning. He probably knows that we're all looking for him. He's a smart son of a bitch so we've gotta be ready for anything. I want the walkie-talkies on and I want us in groups of two. Briggs is with Tripp, Mathers is with Verona, and Jade is with me. Any sign of Swagger, and I mean ANY sign, and you phone the rest of the team with your location. DON'T move in on him alone. He was a trained Marine and I can't stress that fact enough. He'll kill us before he lets himself be taken in. And he won't think twice about it either."

They all nodded and their eyes read over his description and looked over his picture one last time.

"Now as soon as you all finish eating, we're loadin' up in the vehicles and we're movin' out. I've got a list of the three stores that he's visited there in the mall. Sears, Dick's Sporting Goods, and Wet Seal. Now Jade and I will take Wet Seal. Verona, I want you and Mathers to take Dick's. And Tripp, you and Briggs will take Sears. I don't care WHAT you hafta do ta make yourselves look inconspicuous. We don't want him ta know that we're there and we SURE as hell don't wanna let him know that we're after him or all HELL'S gonna break loose in the mall," she told her team.

Briggs and Tripp got a shit-eating smirk on their faces and she glared in their direction and said, "NO fake robberies. TOO many damn people in the stores would buy it and we'd wind up gettin' called in, only to have to save our asses by flashin' our badges. And then he'd REALLY know that we were there after him."

Their smirks were quickly replaced with pouts and she raised her hand to point at them, first Briggs and then Tripp, before she told them, "I MEAN it, boys."

They nodded to her and she stood up.

"This is the kinda shit I want you guys ta be wearin'," she announced to her team, gesturing to herself with a downward sweep of her hand to emphasize her attire.

She was wearing a pair of tight-fitting, dark denim colored jeans with a distressed, lighter colored streak down the middle of the front and back of both legs and small holes in the upper thighs of them that weren't all the way through. She had a plain, black cami on with a black bra underneath to cover her top half. On her feet, there were her brown Doc Marten shoes. And on her head was her favorite, gray and pink colored baseball cap with a "Gatlinburg" logo on it in fancy scrawl. Her long, wavy, rich mahogany colored hair was pulled up into a high ponytail that poked out of the back of her hat. Her chocolate colored eyes roamed over each of the members in her team, seeing them all in their black, bullet-proofed tops and their black, cargo jeans.

"I know that we won't have the same kind of protection without the bullet-proof gear on but that's a chance we'll hafta take, unfortunately. It'll be a DEAD giveaway if he notices that we're 'suited up' and ready ta go after him. So pick out your favorite, comfy pair of jeans and whatever regular top you want and some shoes or boots that you can run in or walk in comfortably," Andi said.

They all nodded and got up to rinse their plates off and stick them in the dishwasher before they traipsed back up to their rooms to change their clothes. A few minutes later, they'd all come back downstairs, dressed in casual clothes and ready to go. Jade had her long, straight, jet-black hair pulled up into a messy bun behind her head and each of the guys had various t-shirts on with wicked designs and slightly-baggy jeans. They were wearing beanie's on their heads – Briggs wearing black one with a Sons of Anarchy logo on it, Tripp wearing a gray one with a Slipknot logo on it, Mathers wearing one that was a light tan with black designs on it and a bill like a regular hat, and Verona wearing a black one with a skull on the side of it.

"VERY nice," Andi told the group, giving them all an approving smile and nodding her head, "All right. Let's load up in our groups and go. And REMEMBER this: we'll be comin' into the mall from different locations so I want those walkie-talkies ON. If any of you see him, you phone the rest of the group and hold your position. Don't do anything stupid 'cuz it WILL get you or civilians killed."

They all nodded to her and the team headed out of the cabin, Andi locking up behind them.

Upon arriving at the mall, Andi climbed out of the passenger seat of the black Escalade they were riding in with black tinted windows and closed the door behind her. Jade hopped out of her side and locked the vehicle as the girls walked down the aisle of the parking lot, heading for the closest entrance to Wet Seal. They made their way into the mall and then headed to Wet Seal.

Andi went to look around, scoping the place out while Jade took the picture of Swagger up to the women working behind the counter and showed it to them. Jade murmured to them that they were looking for the man in the picture and that if the women saw him at ANY time, they were to call her, giving them her number to ensure that they would. The two women exchanged a nervous glance and gave Jade enthusiastic nods, their eyes real wide.

"Don't let him know that you're scared if he comes up to the counter or into the store," Andi heard her partner tell the young women, "Just act as calmly and coolly as possible, like nothing's going on. One of you tell the other that you're going to go see if the young woman in the fitting room needs help and then head back in that direction, out of his line of sight and his range of hearing, before calling me. Is all of this clear?"

Again, they nodded.

"Good and thanks for your cooperation. We really appreciate it. We'll be in and out of here throughout the day. If we don't catch him today, we'll be in throughout the week," Jade told the girls, giving them a smile and nodding to them.

The girls nodded to her and Jade assured them, "Relax, girls. We're trained professionals. We're not gonna let you girls get hurt, all right?"

They gave her a bright smile and nodded, now seeming a lot more at ease.

"That's it," Jade told them, giving them another smile.

Andi approached the counter at that time and gave them a subtle nod, and Jade told them quietly, "This is my partner. Whenever we're in the store, both of us will be here together."

The girls smiled at Andi and Andi gave them a friendly smile of her own.

"We do this all the time, ladies," Andi reassured them, "You've got nothin' ta worry about."

They nodded and smiled to her and she gave them another subtle nod.

"If you hear somethin' that sounds like a walkie-talkie, it's the four men we have on our team scoping other stores ta make sure he's not somewhere else. It's nothin' ta fret about. We wanna catch this guy without anyone gettin' hurt," Andi informed the workers.

The girls just nodded to her again, giving bright smiles. Well they sure felt a lot safer now that they knew there were men involved. Andi fought the urge to roll her eyes. What WAS it with people that thought that men could protect them better than women could? Women could do just about ANYTHING a man could. They were JUST as capable of taking a man down as a man was, as long as they did it right.

She gave the girls one last nod and then gave the message to the rest of her team from her walkie-talkie as she told them, "We've just cleared it with the workers here at Wet Seal. They know the scoop."

"All clear here at Dick's," Verona informed her, "GOD it sounds weird sayin' that!"

Jade and Andi laughed and they heard Mathers chuckling in the background.

"We got a problem here at Sears," Briggs told the rest of their team.

"State your problem," Andi said, starting for the entrance of Wet Seal.

"Well the security guards here seem ta think that we're casin' the place ta rob it," Briggs replied.

Andi sighed. She'd hoped that wouldn't happen. Both of the boys had tattoos and they looked like your average cut-throats.

"I'm on my way," Andi assured them, "Jade!"

Jade hurried to catch up to her, telling the workers there at Wet Seal, "You girls let us know if you see him."

The girls nodded to her and Andi and Jade made their way to Sears on the opposite side of the mall.

"Where the hell are you boys at?" Andi asked whenever she and Jade walked into the store.

"South entrance," Briggs answered, "Hell we got stopped as soon as we entered the building."

Andi growled and headed for the south entrance of the Sears store. She found that they'd been held by a couple security guards and she glared at the men, narrowing her chocolate colored eyes at them and walking right over to them to pull her I.D. from her back pocket and opening it to show it to the security guards. Mathers and Verona showed up at the scene at that point.

"You blow our fuckin' cover and I swear ta GOD, I'll report every last one of ya in this damn mall," she growled quietly at the security guards, "These are two of my team members. Check their damn badges before ya go gettin' your panties in a bunch. We're here on a case."

The men's eyes went real wide and they gave jerky nods to her. She could tell that they were new on the job and she gave them both a hard glare.

"Now you listen ta me closely…" Andi told the men, "I've got a six man team here lookin' for someone. Jade here and I are the only two women on the team. These other four are the four men on my team. We're lookin' for THIS man."

She pulled the picture of Swagger out of her back pocket where she'd had it stashed with her I.D., and showed it to the young security officers, who took a look at it and nodded to her.

"Good. Now that we've got this all figured out, you knuckleheads let us know if you see him. Got it? And ASK for I.D. before ya stop someone damn it!" she chastised.

They gave another jerky nod together and she patted one on the back. He flinched a little and she fought the urge to get up in his face, figuring that he'd piss himself, and settled for just shaking her head at him.

"Briggs, Tripp, you boys are good ta go about your business. Go clear this with the workers. You two security guards, and I use that term lightly, help them out. There are a LOT of workers here and I don't want ANY more problems. Now MOVE!" she barked before turning around to head out of the store.

Jade followed her and Mathers and Verona headed off in the direction of Dick's Sporting Goods again. Jade managed to keep her composure until they'd made it all the way out of the store. Just as soon as they'd cleared the exit of the store that led out into the rest of the mall, Jade broke out in laughter, having to bend over and gasp for air as she laughed her ass off.

"Fuckin' amateurs," Andi growled out of clenched teeth, shaking her head, "Mathers and Verona managed ta get clearance with the whole damn staff there at Dick's and two new security guards stop Briggs and Tripp just as SOON as they enter Sears? No way. NO fuckin' way. Swagger already knows that we're here. He's probably got a lookout somewhere here in the damn mall. And I bet you ANYTHING he was there in Sears when we had ta go settle shit with those two chuckleheads back there. Damn it! Now he's seen our WHOLE team. Well let the GAMES begin, Swagger."

**There's the end again. Well, I hope you enjoyed it. But I'll never know if you don't tell me so. So PLEASE review or message me and let me know what you thought, whether you loved it or hated it. Thanks again for reading and I'm looking forward to hearing from all of you.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note:**** Here's chapter 2. I hope you enjoyed the first one. The chapters for this story tend to be really short but hopefully they're quick to get through and easy to understand.**

**Chapter 2:**

~*_Andi_*~

It was now 1:00, three hours after the team had arrived at the mall. They had received one call after another of Swagger being spotted in the store, making them run from one store's location to another. Finally, Andi caught on to the fact that it was probably Swagger and his lookout or LOOKOUTS informing the staff of the stores that he was in their store.

Andi had finally had it and she'd decided that she and her group would go for a lunch break. She'd had Jade call the girls at Wet Seal and tell them that they weren't to call her anymore unless they saw Swagger himself. She explained the situation to the girls about how they had received numerous calls all afternoon from staff members of the mall that someone had spotted Swagger and they'd all turned out to be a bust. Swagger was smart. He was REAL smart. And he was toying with them.

But just as they were heading past Wet Seal, they got a call.

Jade answered her cell and Andi heard one of the young ladies working for Wet Seal say in a hushed tone, "He's here! Swagger's in the store RIGHT now! Chrissy is helping him at the counter! We saw him ourselves! You've gotta get here!"

The team acted immediately, coming into the store and closing the doors behind them. They all pulled their guns and moved down various aisles as quietly and cautiously as possible.

"FREEZE, SWAGGER!" Andi shouted, "PUT YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR AND DROP TO YOUR KNEES!"

When he had, her entire team surrounded him and Tripp padded him down. He found three different handguns on him, which he quickly handed off to Briggs and Verona, who tucked them into various sides of their jeans. Andi couldn't BELIEVE that they'd caught him so easily. Something had to be going on.

"How the hell were you so damn easy ta catch, Swagger?" she questioned him as Briggs and Tripp helped him up onto his feet.

"EASY now…" she told her men, "I don't want a single HAIR on his head harmed."

She looked into Swagger's eyes as they brought him to stand before her and she questioned him again, this time her voice softer as she asked him, "Why'd you make this easy on us?"

He just shrugged his shoulders. So he wasn't going to tell them. She gave a sigh. Of COURSE he wasn't!

"You sure gave us the runaround, ya know?" she told him, giving him a little smile.

THAT made him smirk and she reached out to gently take his arm in her hand after Tripp had cuffed him, guiding him towards the doors of the store. Briggs and Tripp opened them for her and she nodded to them.

"Thanks for your cooperation, ladies!" Andi called back to the girls.

She looked over at Swagger as her team surrounded him and they made their way out of the store.

"Well, Swagger…" she asked, "You wanna eat here at the mall or you wanna eat somethin' back at the cabin we're stayin' at?"

"What?" he questioned, "You're not gonna take me in today?"

"NOPE," she informed him.

She'd changed her plans. She knew that he was planning something.

"How long you plan on holdin' me?" he asked her.

"Haven't thought that far ahead yet," she told him.

"You're bullshittin' me," he accused.

"And you're bullshittin' me, Sargent Swagger," she retorted, "Now do you wanna eat here at the mall or back at the cabin?"

"Fast food sucks," he finally said after a long pause.

She just smiled up at him and said, "I couldn't agree more."

When Andi got him back to the cabin, she quietly announced to the rest of her team in the den that SHE would be the one in charge of dealing with Swagger. He was not to be harmed, no matter WHAT happened. They were going to keep him with their team and PERSONALLY deliver him to the high security prison that was waiting for him out in California. They all seemed a little uneasy with the change of plans but they nodded to her.

"If ANYTHING goes wrong, I'll take the fall for it," she assured them, "And your safety has ALWAYS and WILL always be my number one priority. You guys are my team and I'd lay down my life for you, in a heartbeat. But he's got somethin' planned, guys. He wouldn't have let us catch him so easily if he didn't. I mean, sure. He gave us the runaround there for a few hours. But then we just so happen ta be walking past Wet Seal and get the call that he's in the store? Nah. He planned it."

They all nodded to her. They knew she was right. And they all trusted her. There was no doubt about it. She was their leader and she'd never done anything to endanger their lives any more than what came with their job description of being a bounty hunter.

When she looked into their eyes and found that they were going to go along with her on this one, she nodded.

"Thanks, guys. I really appreciate this," she told them.

She looked across the room and into the kitchen to see Swagger sitting in a chair with his hands cuffed in front of him. He was looking down at the table, his hands in his lap. While it looked like he was off in his own little world, she knew that he'd been trying to listen into every word of their conversation so she'd made certain to speak in a hushed whisper.

She made her way over to Swagger and crouched down beside him to look up into those intense, war-hardened, hazel eyes as she asked him, "Well, Swagger… What would you like ta eat?"

"I'm not picky, ma'am," he informed her.

"Just tricky," she teased him lightly, bringing out that crooked little smirk of his.

"Right," he confirmed with a nod and a little smile, "Just tricky."

She got to her feet and ruffled his hair just to give him hell before heading over to the fridge.

She pulled it open and sighed out loud, "Hum dee dum dee dum… What the hell can we eat in this joint?"

Her eyes roamed over the food that lined the shelves inside the refrigerator and she finally pulled her head back out of the fridge to ask him, "You like steak, Swagger?"

"You kiddin' me?" he questioned, "I LOVE steak."

"Then steak it is," she told him.

So she went out to fire up the grill and let it get heated up while she took the ribeye steaks out of the fridge and out onto the little balcony where the grill was. She grilled the steaks while Jade made some fruit kebobs for them with pineapple and watermelon and grapes. The boys volunteered Mathers to make the salad and Jade told him what to do while she worked on making the fruit kebobs. Tripp ran into town to buy them some beer. And Verona and Briggs fired up the oven in the cabin to pop some potatoes in to bake.

Surprisingly, Swagger made his way, hands cuffed, out to go sit in one of the rocking chairs next to the grill on the balcony that Andi was grilling on.

"Need somethin'?" she asked him, turning her head to look at him.

She wanted to be sure that he was treated like a king up until the point when they handed him over to the high security prison he'd be staying in out there in California.

"No," he assured her.

"You're a man of few words I see," she commented.

He just nodded to her and she laughed.

"You're somethin' else, Swagger," she teased lightly.

"Apparently so are you," he replied, catching her off guard.

She turned her head to look over her shoulder at him and gave him a look of pure confusion.

"Well it takes a lot for a woman to manage a team of six bounty hunters, herself included, ESPECIALLY when four of the team members are men. Two of them are ex-criminals as well. So dealing with people like that and keeping them all in line must be very strenuous," he stated matter-of-factly.

"I love my team," she informed him without a moment's hesitation, "I'd lay my LIFE down for them. I've worked with Jade my entire career. She was my roommate from college. Verona was working at the bail bonds office whenever we were transferred to work there. I helped train Mathers for being a bounty hunter and I'm STILL training him. Granted, the rest of the team is helpin' me break him in but you get the point. Yes, I have had a lot of rules to teach Briggs and Tripp. But that doesn't mean for a SECOND that I'd trade them for anyone else. EVERYONE has to learn sometimes. NO one knows everything. And I SURE as hell don't claim to."

is She watched as those hazel eyes of his widened a little and his brown brows rose but he just nodded to her. He was feeling her out and she knew it.

She turned the grill off and stabbed the steaks, piling them onto a platter and closing the lid of the grill after she waited for it to cool a bit.

She walked the steaks over to the sliding glass door of the cabin and put her empty hand on the handle, turning to Swagger to inform him, "I know what you're doin, Swagger. And while I can PROMISE you that NONE of my team members will ever lay a mean hand on you without my permission – which I don't give unless the circumstances ABSOLUTELY require it – I wouldn't recommend trying to hurt or kill any of them. You might've done your research on all of us, and I'm sure you did, but you don't know what I'm capable of when you piss me off. I didn't get the job of being a bounty hunter because of my looks. So you can plan your capture and do whatever else you wanna do. But I'm gonna do my damn job and bring your ass in."

With that, she opened the door and walked back into the cabin, giving him something to think about.

**Press that magic button down there and let me know what you though. It'd be GREATLY appreciated.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note:**** Well, once you read this, you're halfway through the 6 chapters I have done so far. Hopefully you've enjoyed the ride so far. Things start getting more serious as the chapters go on. So I hope you have just as much fun reading this as I did writing it.**

**Chapter 3:**

–=_Swagger_=–

Swagger sat there in the rocking chair, watching the sliding glass door that Rhodes had just disappeared through. She was right about a couple things. He HAD done his research about her team. He wanted to know just what it was that he was up against, who it was that was hunting him. But she was also right about the fact that he'd planned his own capture. Hell he'd planned EVERYTHING out. He was an ex-Marine after all, and a Sargent at that. He'd planned everything down to a T and followed through with it all. Now they were going to deliver him to the local police department and he would get his one phone call, which he would place to his new spotter to confirm that he was going to need him to break him out the same night of his arrival at the police department. He didn't want the authorities around the nation to start thinking that he wasn't compliant with the authorities. After all, the nation had already heard ENOUGH shit about him after the whole ordeal that had taken place a year ago and he hadn't done ANY of the things they'd tried to say he had.

He got to his feet and went to walk into the cabin, closing the sliding glass door behind him with his cuffed hands.

He walked into the kitchen just as Rhodes was informing the rest of her team, "We'll move out in the morning."

They all nodded to her and then noticed that he was standing just inside the doorway of the kitchen.

"Come in, Swagger," she told him, not turning around to face him, "Lunch is ready."

She asked him what he wanted to eat and fixed him a plate before fixing her own and putting it into the microwave. Then she surprised the hell out of him by coming over to sit beside him with his plate in front of her.

"Whatcha want a bite of first?" she asked him.

So she was planning to feed him? He couldn't hold his laughter in.

She just cocked one mahogany colored brow at him and her chocolate colored eyes expressed her boredom. Her eyes were such a bright chocolate color, so expressive and beautiful. They almost reminded him of Sarah's. Then he remembered how Sarah used to feed him while he'd been recovering at her house. His smile fell from his face and he grew serious again.

"Steak," he told her.

She just nodded to him and stabbed a piece of his meat, dipping it in the puddle of barbeque sauce she'd fixed for him on his plate and lifting it up to his mouth. He leaned forward to gently ease it off with his teeth and he watched as she licked her full lips, those chocolate eyes fixed to his mouth as he chewed and swallowed. She was either very hungry or she found him attractive. And if it was the later, he could play that to his advantage.

He let his hazel eyes roam over her as she offered him another bite of meat and he saw her watching him out of the corner of her eye.

"You're an attractive man, Swagger," she admitted, "But I never let my guard down around any of the people we hunt down."

So she'd admitted that she thought he was good-looking then.

He just gave her a crooked little smirk and she leaned into his ear to murmur quietly, "Watch yourself or the boys will start thinkin' they're gonna hafta keep a closer eye on you. And if they think that you're a threat ta me or Jade, it'll be hard ta convince them that you don't mean any harm."

His smirk fell and she gave a smirk of her own.

But he leaned forward to murmur to her, "You really think I feel threatened by any of you?"

She just shook her head, giving a little laugh, and told him, "Oh I didn't figure ya would be. You're just bidin' your time 'til we drop ya off at the local police department."

She was a smart one, smarter than most of the authorities he'd gone up against so far.

She stabbed a piece of salad for him and told him, "Here. None of my team members believe me but balanced meals help keep people in top shape, as long as they're still exercising every day."

He nodded to her. It was true. She really did know her stuff.

He took the bite of salad down and nodded to her to keep it coming. He finished his salad before he told her that he wanted to finish his steak. He'd have his potato next and then he'd eat his fruit last.

When he finally got around to the fruit, she slid a piece of watermelon off the end of the stick and reached out to hold it out to him between her fingers. He gently took it between his teeth, catching her fingers in his mouth and sucking lightly. He saw her give a shiver and fought back a little smirk. He was affecting her and he knew it.

"You sneaky little son of a bitch!" she scolded in a whisper, stealing a glance over at the rest of her team to see if they had seen him.

But he'd already checked. They were all tending to their own food and making it pull the disappearing act. They trusted her to tend to him.

When she returned her gaze to him again, she narrowed those beautiful chocolate colored eyes at him and slid another piece of fruit off of the stick, stabbing it with a fork this time before lifting it to his mouth to offer it to him. She wasn't going to take any chances with him.

He just chuckled and she passed him an annoyed expression, only making him laugh harder.

Later that night, Rhodes had Briggs and Tripp watch him while she took her shower. Then she took him into her room and closed the door behind her, locking it.

She led him right back to the bathroom and informed him, "All right. Now it's time for YOUR shower."

"What?!" he barked in disbelief.

"You heard me," she replied, reaching for the buckle of his belt.

She unfastened it and went for the button on his jeans. She popped it open and he looked down to watch her, wiggling and protesting all the while.

"Hey… Hey!" he objected, "You can't do this!"

"I can and I WILL, damn it," she informed him, "I wouldn't wanna get turned into jail dirty and I don't expect the criminals I hunt ta hafta do anything I wouldn't wanna do myself."

"I'm NOT a criminal," he insisted.

"You're probably right," she told him, "I wouldn't have done things any differently than you did, given the way things played out against you. But you DO need a shower. And you ARE going to get one."

He gave a big sigh, knowing that she wasn't going to budge on this, and quit struggling.

She was quick to slide his jeans down and then help him over to the toilet seat to sit down while she removed his boots and his socks before sliding his jeans the rest of the way off of him.

"I'll wash your clothes while we sleep too. Mathers has volunteered to letcha borrow a pair of his boxers for the night," she stated.

He heaved another sigh and she actually laughed at him, shaking her head as she helped him to stand again, moving him over to the vanity so that he could lean against it while she eased his boxers down his legs.

She gasped as she went to stand again and caught site of his cock. He just smirked at her and she actually blushed.

"I um… I'm sorry," she apologized, surprising him, "I honestly didn't mean ta look but… Well it's just so BIG."

He chuckled and she asked him, "Can you lift your arms for me so I can get your shirt off?"

He nodded to her and did as she asked, letting her strip his shirt over his head and off of him. His t-shirt got stuck between the cuffs but fell to the floor and she sighed in relief, clearly not having thought that part through.

Finally, she told him, "Now let's get you into the shower."

She guided him over to the shower and helped him to climb in before telling him, "Now DON'T move. I don't want you ta get hurt."

She pulled the shower curtain closed behind him and then he heard the ruffle of clothes. So she was stripping down to climb in there with him too, huh?

While Bob Lee Swagger wasn't a man with the greatest of track records with women, he wasn't fond of the idea that other men out there had someone at home waiting for them. And he'd gotten a taste of that with Sarah after he'd been released when they'd proven him innocent of the attempted murder of the President of the United States and the attempted murder of the Archbishop of Ethiopia. He'd gotten to know what it was like to come home to someone every day that loved you and cared for you. And he'd come to really enjoy that. Now he was without it again.

He heard the shower curtain open behind him, dragging him out of his thoughts. He hadn't even realized that he'd stopped paying attention to what she was doing and he could've kicked himself for it. Failing to pay attention for even one SECOND could get a man killed.

He felt her presence behind him and then heard her tug the shower curtain closed behind her again. She reached around his side for the men's shower gel and he felt her breasts press against his back. He closed his eyes. They felt large and full, soft and yielding. Her skin was so soft and silky smooth.

"Just try to relax for me, okay?" she told him, "I'll try ta be as unobtrusive as possible, I promise."

He just nodded, not realizing that he'd tensed up. He was so far off right now that it wasn't even funny. He would've laughed at any other man for letting his dick do the thinking for him but it was HIM that was in this situation right now, not some other man.

He felt her slowly start to run her hands over his back and shoulders, working her hands over his water-slicked skin to lather him all up. She worked her hands lower and lower down his back, avoiding his ass until after she'd knelt to lather up the back of his legs and thighs. Finally, she worked those soft hands over his muscular ass. Then she stood again to slowly and carefully turn him around, walking around him to work her hands over him again, this time helping the water rinse his body off. Then she walked around him again to start lathering the front of him up.

He watched her face the whole time, not missing the fact that she was nursing her lower lip the entire time she was washing him up. When she'd washed every part of him but between his thighs, he could see her hesitance and she even stole a quick glance up at him.

She gave him a sheepish little smile and told him, "I'm so sorry about this but it's gotta be done. Just… Bear with me, okay? I'm sure you're just as ready for this ta be over with as I am."

e noddeHe just nodded, not giving her an answer. But the truth was, he wasn't ready for it to be over. He loved the way her hands felt skimming over his skin, the way her gentle touch caressed him and massaged his muscles as she worked the soap in and then rinsed it back off. She reminded him of Sarah in so many ways and he wished that he could have what he'd shared with her back again.

"Okay. Here goes nothin'," he heard her say just before he felt her hand wrap around him, stroking his length to wash it and then dipping underneath to wash his balls.

He gave a grunt, biting at his lower lip and spreading his legs a little farther to regain his footing. He swallowed hard and stole a quick glance downward at her hand. But he regretted it the second he'd done it, giving himself a sharp, mental slap and shaking his head hard to try to rid himself of the image of her hand between his thighs.

She was quick to finish and then turn him around again to rinse him all off.

Then she reached for the shampoo and poured some into her hand. She rubbed it over his head and started to massage it into his scalp, working it into his hair and clear down to the roots. He closed his eyes, giving a quiet little groan as he felt her fingertips gently massaging his scalp. Hell he could almost fall asleep to that!

In fact, he felt his head starting to drift downwards and gave his head a quick shake to wake himself up.

"Oh I'm sorry!" she was quick to apologize, "Did it get in your eyes? Oh I HATE when that happens!"

Not wanting to admit that he'd nearly fallen asleep on her while she was washing his hair, he just nodded his head and mumbled a "Yeah. Damn stuff."

She was quick to finish lathering his hair up and walk around to the front of him, holding her hands into the water to rinse them all off before she told him, "Here. Don't rub at it. Getting water in it won't help any. It'll just make the shampoo in there worse. Close your eyes and bear with me, all right?"

He nodded to her and she gently applied a little pressure at his tear ducts, making them release a few tears into his eyes.

"There," she said softly, "Did that help?"

When he opened his eyes, he found that her face was just a few inches from his own and she was peering at him with a concerned expression shining in those beautiful, expressive, chocolate colored eyes.

"Yeah," he told her, nodding his head for the umpteenth time.

"All right. Now we need ta get that shampoo rinsed out, okay? So can you turn around for me? Just be slow and careful, you hear?" she questioned.

He did as she said and she tipped his head back, placing one hand over his forehead to keep the water from running down into his eyes "again" as she rinsed his hair out.

When she'd finished with that, she announced, "All right. The words you've been waitin' for: all done."

She helped him out of the shower and then dried him off. He got a good look at her body once again. She was probably about an inch or two taller than him and she had about what he would've guessed to be a 36D in the chest department. Her lips were full and kind of pouty. Her waist was slim and her hips had a sexy little flare to them. Her legs were slender and went on for miles and miles. And he didn't miss the fact that she only kept a small, trimmed, upside down triangle of brown curls growing between her thighs.

Rhodes helped him into the pair of boxers she'd brought in for him and then she pulled on a brown, cotton cami with lace around the neckline and the hem at the bottom and a pair of brown lace boy shorts.

"All right," she informed him, "Bed time."

She led him into the bedroom and over to her bed, where she helped him climb into bed.

She went to grab their dirty clothes from the bathroom before taking them to her bedroom door and handing them to Tripp, who was positioned just outside the door.

She locked the door behind and then went to crawl into her bed beside him.

She curled right up beside him and asked, "You comfy?"

He just gave a grunt and she actually laughed.

"You're a difficult man, Bob Lee Swagger," she said, "And you're too damn sexy for your own good."

**You know the drill by now. Fill in that box down there and press the magic button and I'll love you for life.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note:**** Here's chapter 4. Things take a turn here. But it should interest you in reading more. SHOULD being the key word there. Read and enjoy.**

**Chapter 4:**

–=_Swagger_=–

Swagger woke up and his eyes stared up at a ceiling he wasn't familiar with. Then it hit him. He'd planned his capture yesterday and the team of bounty hunters that had been after him for a week had finally caught him because he'd had his new spotter tip them off to where he would be in the mall and then he'd been captured after about three hours of taking them on a wild goose chase from store to store.

He felt something draped over his waist and slowly craned his neck up and back so that he could look down and see what it was. He saw that he was covered up with a thick blanket and felt that he was wearing just a pair of boxers. But he felt an unmistakable arm wrapped around his waist. He turned his head to the side to see that it was Rhodes lying in bed beside him, all curled up next to him.

She rubbed her cheek up and down over his firm chest and he couldn't help but smile to himself. She looked so damn cute rubbing at his bare chest with her cheek like a big cat. He sighed to himself. He was really going to have to stop thinking of her like a possible companion. She was a bounty hunter after all, even if she DID remind him of Sarah in many ways.

She made a little noise in her sleep and then her eyes slowly fluttered open, those long, thick, dark lashes batting like crazy until those beautiful, chocolate colored eyes came into view. She gave him a big, sleepy smile and then seemed to realize where she was and what was going on because her groggy smile was quickly replaced with a sympathetic one.

"I bet you've gotta pee," she commented, "Here. I'll let you go first and then you can wait while I do. Then we can wash our hands and get changed before we go downstairs and I make up some breakfast."

She climbed out of bed and then went over to his side and carefully helped him up and out of bed.

Swagger nearly jumped when he saw two large pit bulls sitting just inside the door.

"It's okay," Rhodes assured both him and the dogs, "They're the two dogs we have on the team."

She puckered her full lips and made kissing noises to the dogs and they both hopped to their feet and trotted over to her, sniffing Swagger down and getting used to his scent.

"See?" she told the dogs, "He's not gonna hurt you and there's no need ta hurt him."

"So you chose these guys over German Shepherds?" Swagger teased a little nervously.

The dogs whined and shifted from one of their front feet to the other, eyeing him and giving a little bark.

"They can sense you're nervousness, Swagger," she told him, "But yes. I hand selected these dogs from pups and raised them in my own home for the team. They're both five years old. There's Zeus and Zeppelin. Zeus is the fawn one with white markings and Zeppelin's the brindle one with the white pi sign on his chest. I went through all the training courses and lessons with them so I'd know how to train all our dogs from now on. I've also trained them specifically for bounty hunting and not police work. These guys are MUCH better than any German Shepherd. They're eager to learn, quick to catch on, willing to please, VERY hard workers, they have a never-ending supply of energy, they always give one hundred and ten percent, they have over two thousand pounds of jaw pressure if they need to use it, and they can take a hell of a lot of beating if the job requires it."

Swagger's hazel eyes widened and his brows rose a bit.

"Come," she instructed the dogs as she gently took Swagger's arm in her hand and led him to the bathroom.

"Sit," she commanded the dogs when they'd reached the doorway

"GOOD," she praised them, scratching behind first Zeus's ears and then Zeppelin's, "Guard."

She closed the door and locked it before turning to Swagger.

"If I don't come out of that door first and without any signs of fear or anxiousness, they won't hesitate to hesitate. And they CAN break down the door," she informed Swagger, "But as long as you promise not ta try anything, I'll uncuff your hands and let you go about your business this morning."

His brown brows rose and she nodded to him to assure him that she meant it. In fact, she uncuffed him right then and there, gesturing for him to go ahead and tend to his business. She turned her back to give him his privacy as he headed over to the toilet to do his thing. He went, flushed, and pulled his boxers back up before she took her turn.

They washed their hands and she announced to the dogs, "Okay. We're comin' out. It's okay…"

She unlocked the door and pulled it open before telling them, "GOOD, boys. Come."

She led him back into the bedroom and was quick to pick out a long, plain gray t-shirt that was low-cut in the front to show of some of her ample cleavage and it had a small pocket on one breast of the soft, cotton material. She pulled it on over a brown, lace bra with floral patterns etched into it in light yellow and bright purple. It had a little purple bow and a fake diamond that dangled underneath it between the cups and Swagger swallowed hard seeing her in it. She pulled on a matching pair of bikini cut underwear and then tugged a pair of dark denim colored Daisy Dukes up those long, slender, tanned, toned legs of hers. Finally, she pulled on a pair of black ankle socks and her Doc Marten shoes.

Then she told him to follow her and led him down the hall to one of the boys' rooms and knocked on it. A few minutes later, Tripp appeared and he was holding Swagger's clothes from yesterday, all washed and dried for that day. She thanked him and took the clothes, returning to her room to let Swagger get changed into them.

As Swagger pulled the clothes on, he saw Rhodes stealing little glimpses at him and he couldn't fight the crooked smirk that curled his lips. She noticed it and gave a crooked little smile herself, shaking her head at him.

"It's a shame I've gotta turn your ass in," she told him quietly.

He just chuckled and finished getting dressed.

She took him downstairs and told him that he could take a seat at the table before she started to search through the fridge and the cabinets to see what they had to fix for breakfast. He looked down to see the dogs watching him suspiciously. They were nothing like Sam.

She hummed to herself as she started pulling things out to fix them.

"Well… Looks like it's gonna be hash this morning. Hope you don't mind," she told him, glancing back over her shoulder at him.

"We've already been over this," he explained to her with a little chuckle, "I'm not picky."

She laughed a little too and nodded her head to him.

After Rhodes had finished fixing breakfast, she left it in the skillet with it turned on warm. She fixed a plate for Swagger and herself and set it and a fork in front of him before rummaging through the cabinets to find a few treats for the dogs. Both dogs watched her, completely perked up but not moving from either side of Swagger's chair.

She reached out to give first one and then a second to Zeus, who quickly gobbled them down, before patting his soft, silky coat and praised, "GOOD boy."

Then she handed the other two treats and told Swagger, "Give them to Zeppelin over there for me. He'll love ya."

Swagger just looked at her. He didn't honestly think she was being serious with him. But when she just stared at him, holding the treats out and moved her hand closer to him to emphasize that he was supposed to take them, he actually reached out to take them and slowly, carefully offer them to the brindle pit bull to his right.

The dog eyed him warily before finally taking the treats.

"Good, boy," he praised the dog.

He turned his attention back to the food, not having the balls to try to pet the dog since he could see that both of the dogs took their job very seriously, and saw Rhodes smiling at him.

"I still can't believe those fuckers killed your dog," she commented, shaking her head, "That's a LOW blow, man. Only sickfucks would do that."

Swagger just nodded and said, "Sam was a good dog. I raised him from a pup myself."

He looked down at the food on the plate in front of him. She had fixed corn beef hash with little cubed potatoes in it out of the can with canned, whole kernel sweet corn mixed in with it. There were also eggs scrambled into it. She had buttered toast to go with it and there were assorted kinds of jelly sitting out on the counter as well.

"You want any jelly?" she asked him as she climbed out of her seat to go pour them both a mug of coffee, "You drink coffee… Right?"

"Yeah," he told her, "I take mine black."

She nodded to him and brought a mug over to set it down in front of him with a smile.

"Jelly?" she asked again.

"Um… What kinds are there?" he questioned, his eyes roaming over the various jars of jelly.

"Apricot, grape, mixed fruit, or apple butter," she told him.

"DEFINITELY apple butter," he answered.

She gave a big grin and said, "A man after my own heart."

He just laughed and shook his head at her as she brought the jar over to set it on the table.

He slathered some over the two pieces of toast she'd fixed for him and then she did the same with her own single slice.

"If you don't like the hash, I won't be offended," Rhodes informed him as she took a bite of hers, "Not too many people eat it, much less like it."

"I'll give it a try," he told her, scooping some up onto his own fork and shoveling it into his mouth.

He closed his eyes as he chewed. It was delicious. He couldn't believe he'd never tried it before.

He nodded his head and slowly opened his eyes as he told her, "It's amazing."

She gave him a big smile and said, "Well thanks."

He just nodded again and took another big bite.

The team all come downstairs, dressed and ready to go for the day, she gestured over to the counter where the food was still laid out for them.

"What's with him not wearin' any cuffs?" Mathers questioned her.

"NEVER question the boss," Briggs told him, "She's saved all of our asses more times than we can count. And you know DAMN good and well she's saved YOURS. She knows what she's doin', Mathers, or she wouldn't have been made the team leader."

"Can you piss with cuffs on, Mathers?" Rhodes asked in front of their whole team and Swagger too, surprising Swagger.

He didn't answer. Instead, he just looked at her with a confused expression on his face, his brows all wrinkled.

"Well…?" she prompted, "Can you?"

"No," he finally answered.

"Well neither could he. And if you haven't noticed, BOTH of the dogs are guarding him, one on either side. So yeah. I don't think he's gonna be goin' anywhere any time soon," she informed him.

Mathers just hung his head, looking like a scolded little puppy as he headed off to go take the last place in line. They were just like a pack of wolves, each of them knowing their place in the chain of command like a pack hierarchy.

"All of you guys go ahead and fill your stomachs and we'll leave whenever everyone's ready," she told the team.

Swagger had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from smiling. He'd soon be delivered to the local police department and he'd get to make that call to get busted out the same night. Things were going to great.

When everyone was ready to go, they loaded Swagger into one of the three Escalades. Tripp was sitting on one side of him, Rhodes on the other. Mathers was sitting in the front, passenger seat, and Jade was driving. Verona was driving the vehicle ahead of them and Briggs was bringing up the tail end of their little convoy.

Mathers had popped a Breaking Benjamin CD in for them to listen to and the team was sharing small talk about various cases they'd worked in the past as they rode along. Things were going just fine.

But it didn't take long for Swagger to realize that they were going in the OPPOSITE direction from the local police department. Something was up. Something was wrong.

"Where the hell are we going?" he asked.

Tripp tensed beside him and Mathers turned around in his seat to look back at him as Rhodes calmly explained, "We hafta take a detour, Swagger. It's gonna be just fine. There was an accident this morning and the traffic's backed up. We'll get there. We've just gotta take a different route."

He looked over at her, his hazel eyes roaming over her face as he searched for any signs of her being dishonest. Her nostrils flared just the slightest little bit and he KNEW, he just KNEW, that she was lying to him.

"You're lying!" he accused, starting to struggle in his seat between her and Tripp, fighting at his cuffs.

Tripp reached out to pull him into a headlock, trying to cut off his air supply and knock him out, and Rhodes quickly told him, "Tripp! Don't hurt him, damn it!"

"Well he's gotta calm his ass down!" Tripp replied.

"Everybody just keep CALM!" she barked.

"We've got a suspicious lookin' car followin' us," Briggs told them over their walkie-talkies.

"Shit!" Mathers cried, "It's gotta be his damn new spotter!"

Rhodes just sighed and shouted at everyone, "SIT down, SHUT up, and REMAIN calm!"

Swagger watched as her face twitched a little and she reached down to place a hand over her stomach.

"Pull over," she told Jade.

Everyone in the vehicle stole a glance at her and Jade radioed to the others, "We're pullin' over. Andi's got one of her feelings."

"Oh shit!" Mathers mumbled, clearly panicking, "Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!"

"Mathers!" Rhodes growled, "Cool it!"

She turned in her seat to face Swagger and told him quietly, "I'm gonna let you outta these cuffs. If we hafta come after you again, Swagger. We will. Right now, everyone's safety is the key."

She climbed out of the vehicle and motioned for everyone else to join her.

"The vehicle went past," Briggs announced to the rest of the team when everyone gathered off to the side of the vehicles a bit, standing off at the edge of the woods and away from the road.

Swagger's eyes darted from side to side. His spotter had to be somewhere close, watching them and preparing to make his move.

Shots rang out and Swagger cursed. Damn it! He hadn't planned on his spotter SHOOTING anyone! This hadn't been part of the deal!

He heard a shout and the whole team hit the ground, all of them taking cover under the vehicles.

"Shit! Rhodes? Damn it, you've been hit!" he heard Briggs shout.

Swagger's eyes searched frantically for his spotter but he couldn't pick him out of the woods. He listened closely but didn't hear a sound. The fucker had betrayed him. And he wouldn't get away with it. Swagger hadn't intended for things to go down like this today.

Swagger ran over to the side of the closest vehicle, where the team was crawling out from under it, and gathering around their downed team leader.

"Fuck!" Swagger cursed again when he saw the blood quickly spreading across her t-shirt and her jeans.

She'd been hit in the upper, right side of her chest, just under her collarbone, and her left thigh, halfway between her knee and her hip. Swagger jerked his shirt up over his head and shoved the others out of the way as they growled at him. He wrapped his shirt tight around her upper thigh, forming a tourniquet out of it, and then he put his fingers over the wound in her chest to apply pressure to it.

She cried out and clenched her teeth tight together, tears forming in those chocolate colored eyes.

"Hang in there, all right?" he told her, "You're gonna be fine. I promise you that. You're gonna be JUST fine. Don't close those eyes."

She rested the back of her head against the side of the vehicle and drew in slow, deep breaths through her nose, slowly letting them out through her mouth.

"That's it," he praised her, nodding as he gazed back down at the extent of damage she'd taken.

But then he started barking out orders, shouting, "Tripp, you've gotta help me get her into the back of the vehicle. Briggs, you'll ride in front with him and I'll lay her out with her head on my lap in the back seat. Jade, you ride shotgun with Verona. Mathers, you ride with them. I want the other vehicle left here. I need one of you guys ta call this in."

"FUCK you, man!" Briggs spat at him.

A scowl was covering Tripp's face and he looked around to see that all of the team members looked like they were ready to kill HIM, not his traitorous spotter. So that only left one thing for him to do.

He pulled Rhodes's gun from the back of her waistband and put it to her head as he shouted, "Then she comes with ME!"

"Oh FUCK nah!" Tripp shouted, pulling his own gun.

"You shoot me and I'll shoot her," Swagger told them.

"You wouldn't," Mathers challenged.

Swagger turned the gun on him and fired a round right next to Mather's leg.

"The next one goes in your leg," Swagger threatened, glaring him and the rest of the team down, "I don't give a shit HOW many of you there are. You fuckin' shoot and I'll kill her."

Rhodes's eyes got real wide and she slowly brought her eyes around to look at him out of the corner of her eye.

"Now all of you MOVE back!" he shouted.

They just looked at him in disbelief and he thundered, "MOVE!"

They all jumped and nodded to him, getting to their feet and moving back a few steps.

"FARTHER!" he ordered, "Back past the edge of the trees!"

They kept backing up until they were standing in the start of the forest off the side of the road and he helped Rhodes to her feet, looping an arm around her slender waist. He kept the gun trained on her team as he slowly and carefully helped her into the front, passenger seat of the vehicle they were standing in front of, fastening her seatbelt for her. Then he ran around to the other side of the vehicle, putting a bullet into the hood of the other two Escalades so that they could no longer be used when he saw the smoke and steam blowing out from under the hoods. Finally, he darted over to the driver's side of the still-usable vehicle and climbed behind the wheel, throwing it in park and speeding off as she fastened his seatbelt.

He stole a glance over at Rhodes to see her eyes closed, her body slumped over against the side of the passenger side door.

**What did you think? Did you like it? There are more chapters posted after this. But please let me know what you think!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note:**** Well, you've reached chapter 5. There's just one more posted after this one. I hope you've enjoyed the journey so far and I hope you're eager to read more after you reach the end of this one.**

**Chapter 5:**

–=_Swagger_=–

Swagger sighed as he looked down at Rhodes. He'd disguised himself and then bought all the supplies that he would need to patch her up and get her on the road to recovery. Now he just had to do the actual patching up. He had her lying out on the bed of the motel room he'd checked them into under a fake name. He didn't know what was making this so damn hard for him. Hell he'd already seen her completely naked so this shouldn't be any different. But now she was hurt. Because of him. That just didn't sit too well with his conscience.

He hadn't had to knock her out since she was still unconscious. He had everything laid out that he'd have to use. But he had to strip her down and wash the wounds before he could get to work.

He gave another sigh and finally just did it. He was as careful as he could be as he slid her top up and over her head. He saw the bullet hole just below her collarbone and peered over her shoulder while he had her sitting up. He unclasped her bra as he inspected her back for an exit hole. But there wasn't one, which meant that the bullet was still in there.

Swagger laid her top half back down on the bed and started in on her jeans. He lifted her legs to set them on his lap as he reached down to unfasten her belt and slide it out of the belt loops. He popped the button on her jeans and slid the zipper down its track before slowly and carefully peeling them down her long, slender legs. He discovered that the wound in her leg was just an entry too, thanking his lucky stars that it hadn't been a through and through. Through and throughs in the legs were always so damn hard to deal with since that always meant tons of internal damage done to the muscles and ligaments in a person's leg, which always took forever to heal and repair and that required plenty of therapy for that leg. At least she probably wouldn't wind up with a permanent limp.

He looked down at her lacy panties and swallowed hard. He'd leave those on he decided.

So he set in on removing both bullets, washing the wounds and flushing them out, and patching her up. Thanks to his training in the Marines, it didn't take him very long. He took all the bloodied utensils into the bathroom and washed the blood down into the drain. He tossed all the bloodied towels and washrags into a black garbage back and tied it tight, going to throw it into the dumpster there at the motel. He packed up the utensils into a kit and put it in the bag that Rhodes had had one of the boys pack for him. It was such a bittersweet thought. She'd been nothing but kind to him, always showing him compassion and treating him as if he were a friend and not just some stranger. And she'd gotten shot because of him. But, in his defense, his spotter had gone rogue. Shooting at the team had NEVER been in the plan that Swagger had discussed with his newest spotter!

Swagger sat down beside her on the bed and waited, watching over her. After a while, he decided to turn on the TV and watch the news. Sure enough, the story was on the news. Hell the reporters had interviewed every ONE of Rhodes's team members! Then they showed a picture of him on the TV and said that, if anyone had any information on him, they were to call the police.

Swagger sighed and turned off the TV, tossing the remote over onto the nightstand. Well, it looked like watching TV was out of the question. It was going to be just like it had been back when he'd been framed for the attempted murder of the President of the United States and the murder of the Archbishop of Ethiopia all over again. Except now he was wanted for ordering his spotter to try to take down Rhodes's team.

He reached up and ran his fingers through his brown hair. Anymore, it just seemed like he was always wanted for something. He was always running, constantly on the go, never staying too long in any one place. He was a runaway, a fugitive, and he hadn't even done anything. But he was always ten steps ahead of them, thanks to his special training in the Marines. He was a smart man, brighter than your average man, and he knew it. He used it to every advantage he could.

He looked down at Rhodes again and reached down to gently brush her hair out of her face. God she reminded him of his Sarah. But Sarah was gone now and she wasn't coming back. Sarah was in the past. Rhodes was now. And he'd be DAMNED if he let anything else happen to her. She'd been so good with him and he was going to see to it that she got the same from him.

Later that night, Rhodes was still unconscious. So Swagger made sure that both the lock and the deadbolt were firmly and securely locked and he headed into the bathroom to take a shower. He was quick to wash up, rinse off, and get out so that he could return to his post beside her and continue to watch over her.

At 11:30, when she didn't show any signs of coming to any time soon, he gave up hope that she was going to wake up that night and he lifted the covers on his side of the bed, crawling under the covers and into bed.

He was woken up in the middle of the night when he heard her groan in her sleep. He was quick to sit up and flip on the lamp that sat on the beside nightstand and look down at her. She gave another groan in her sleep and he saw those long, thick, dark lashes starting to flutter, indicating that she was starting to come to. He climbed out from under the covers and sat on the bed again, leaning over her to peer down at her.

"Rhodes?" he murmured softly, "Rhodes? Come on, open those eyes for me."

Her eyes fluttered open and she gazed up at him with those chocolate colored eyes. But the light was missing from them and he knew that she had to be in pain.

"It's all right," he told her when he saw her eyes go real wide and start to dart around in every direction, trying to take in her surroundings, "We're in a motel. Your team didn't want me to come along with you guys after my damn spotter shot you. And that WASN'T part of my plan, not ever. I'd specifically TOLD him that he wasn't to injure any of your team. I didn't want to go through what I did last year with all that shit about the assassination attempts I was framed for."

She turned her head to rest her cheek on the bed, her eyes drifting closed again as she rasped, "I'm listening."

"I had ta take off most of your clothes to patch ya up, but I made sure ta leave your underwear on," Swagger informed her.

"Not like ya haven't seen it all already," she told him.

"Everything's been taken care of. Now all you need ta do is heal," he assured her, "But let's get you some pain killers. I'm sure you're hurtin'."

"Feel like I got ran over by a damn Mac truck," she said.

"I'm gonna sit you up, okay?" he stated, reaching out to gently help her up into a sitting position.

He went to go fetch her a bottle of water from the mini fridge and a bottle of pills off the table over in the corner of the room. He brought them back to her and handed them to her.

She winced a little as she reached out to take them but she was quick to down the pills and drink about half of the bottle of water.

"I've gotta piss like a racehorse," she informed him.

He nodded to her and helped her out of bed and into the bathroom, one arm around her waist as she limped towards the bathroom. She thanked him as he brought her back to the bed after she'd gone about her business and washed her hands. She crawled under the covers, pulled them up to her chin, and promptly fell back to sleep.

He just shook his head and climbed back into bed beside her, reaching over to turn off the lamp.

But he was surprised when she cuddled up beside him, rubbing her cheek against his bare chest and telling him, "Thanks for taking care of me, Swagger."

"You'd do the same for me," he stated as if it was obvious.

"But this goes ta show that you're not a bad man like everyone thinks you are. You're just a man that wants ta live your life in peace. You didn't do that shit that they said you did with the attempted murder of the President or the Archbishop. You tried ta STOP that. Sure, you might've murdered those other two men that killed Sarah but they had it comin'. I would've done the SAME damn thing if someone had killed the person I loved," she replied.

This really shocked him. She didn't think he was a bad guy? She was only bringing him in because it was a part of her job? She'd said it herself: she would've done the same thing if someone had killed the person she loved.

"You just sleep," he told her, not trusting himself to say anything more.

The LAST damn thing he wanted to do was have a heart to heart. He wasn't the kind of man to put his heart out there on his sleeve and he wasn't the kind to talk about the things that bothered him. He just dealt with shit himself and he never bothered with confiding his problems in anyone but his dog, Sam. But poor Sam was gone now too, thanks to those fuckers "Johnson" had hired to tear his life apart, hoping that he'd fly off the handle and come after them like an idiot. But he'd kept his head and he'd done things just the way he'd planned.

"Night, Swagger," he heard Rhodes mumble sleepily.

"Night," he told her.

"You're a good man," she murmured softly, "And I don't give a shit what ANYONE says. I don't care if you believe it or not. That's my damn opinion and you can't change it."

He actually gave a little chuckle and told her, "You're somethin' else, Rhodes."

"And you're nothin' like what they all led the nation ta believe," she informed him, "Anyone that actually meets you could tell it was nothin' but a pack of damn lies."

"You need your sleep," he reminded her, "We can talk about this in the morning."

"No we won't," she stated matter-of-factly, "You're not one ta talk about this kinda stuff. You're just hopin' like hell that I forget what we were talkin' about by the time I wake up."

"You're a smart one," he said, "Now get ta sleep."

"Aye aye, captain," she replied before giving a big yawn, "Off ta Sleepyville."

He gave another chuckle and waited for her to say something else. But she didn't. She just closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep with one arm wrapped loosely around his waist and her head resting on his bare chest.

**There's a magic button. So please press it. I'm a starving writer – not a starving artist – and I'm starving for your comments. So please don't keep me waiting!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note:**** This is the last chapter I have posted of this story and it leaves you with a big cliff hanger so you've been forewarned. HOWEVER, if you don't review or message me, I'll never finish it. I feed off of your comments just like you feed off of my stories. So, this is the way it goes: I get reviews and messages, I write more chapters. I DON'T get reviews and messages, you get left hanging… PERMANENTLY.**

**Chapter 6:**

–=_Swagger_=–

The next morning, Swagger woke up and looked down to find that Rhodes was already awake, sitting up in bed beside him with the TV turned down low. She was watching the news and shaking her head. She had the captions on so that she'd be able to read what her team members said as they played the story over again about how she'd gotten shot and her team was now searching all of Colorado for them.

"I love those guys but they're going about this ALL wrong," she sighed, bringing one hand up to run her fingers through her long, wavy, mahogany colored hair.

"They don't know the full scale of it," Swagger stated, "They don't know that I told my spotter to make sure that no one was injured in the process."

"Well you're not stupid, Swagger," she replied, "We've been over this already."

He just sighed and pushed himself up out of the bed, heading for the bathroom.

But she got up to follow him, standing in the doorway and insisting, "I'm serious. I'm gonna straighten all this shit out."

"Rhodes, you're in no shape ta be straightenin' ANYTHING out right now," he informed her as he tugged his boxers down and proceeded to take a leak.

"Should I take a bath or a shower?" she asked him, gesturing to the gauze on her thigh.

She was wearing the t-shirt he'd worn the day before. Apparently, she'd been up for a while.

"Take a whore bath," he told her, "I don't think it's ready ta be gettin' submerged in water or have water dousin' it yet. Just take a wet washrag and wash the essentials. But I'll do it for ya. I don't want you hurtin' yourself any worse than ya already are."

She nodded to him and stood on tiptoes to grab a washrag from the rack there in the bathroom while he was washing his hands. But applying pressure to her injured leg made her cry out in pain and fall to the floor, holding her leg in both hands.

Swagger was quick to rush over to her and kneel down beside her.

"Damn it!" he cursed, "Just let me take care of you. You're too damn stubborn ta listen, aren't ya? Gotta do everything yourself."

She just glared up at him and picked her washrag up from the floor, pushing herself to her feet and hobbling over to the sink to get it wet. She pulled the shirt up and over her head, dropping it to the floor. She stood there in front of the sink and washed herself with the rag, cleaning everywhere but where she was bandaged. She slid her panties down her legs and proceeded to wash the rest of her body, not giving a damn that he was standing behind her, watching her in disbelief.

"I can take care of my damn self," she huffed before heading out into the main room of the motel and over to her bag.

She pulled out an outfit and proceeded to dress herself. He watched from the doorway of the bathroom. She was the damnedest thing. She wouldn't let him help her, even though he'd patched her up the night before. Instead, she insisted on taking care of herself.

She lifted her chin as she looked over at him and said, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna make a call to my team."

"No!" he quickly protested, "NO, no, no! That's the LAST thing we wanna do! They'll trace the call and find us here."

"Well it's not like we've got anything ta hide," she reminded him.

"But THEY don't know that. Hell they'll arrest me on the fuckin' spot, Rhodes! They all think that I told my spotter ta kill all of you or some shit like that. We can't take that chance. Now give me your damn phone," he told her, reaching out to motion for her to hand him over her phone.

"If they really wanted ta do that, they would've done it by now, Swagger," she retorted.

He sighed. She was too damn smart for her own good.

She grabbed her cell up off the nightstand and sat down on the bed to make a phone call.

"Where the hell are you?" she heard Briggs answer.

"Now, Briggs," she started, "Just stay calm. I'm just fine-,"

"You're NOT just fine! Swagger's spotter fuckin' SHOT you-," he growled.

"DON'T interrupt me," she told him, cutting him off, "As I was saying, Swagger patched me up last night. You have to understand, Briggs… Swagger didn't order his spotter to shoot at us. He specifically told him NOT to harm any of the members of our team."

"That fucker will tell you ANYTHING ta try ta make himself look better," Briggs insisted.

"You keep runnin' him down and I'm gonna hang up," she threatened.

"No. Don't do that," he quickly insisted, "Just tell me where you are and we'll come get you."

"No," she replied, "'Cuz you guys are all gonna barge in here and try ta arrest him. Swagger didn't mean for any harm ta come to any of us and I know that for a FACT, Briggs. He's not stupid. He's an ex-Marine Scout Sniper, a Gunnery Sargent. He's been takin' care of me since I got shot yesterday. Now you listen ta me and you listen good… Swagger is NOT goin' into custody."

Swagger's eyes widened. She was chewing her own TEAM member out over the phone and she was defending him. She was telling her team member that she wasn't going to be taking him into custody at all.

"Andi, we hafta take him in and you know that," Briggs told her.

"Wouldn't you go after the people that killed the person closest ta you?" she questioned.

"That's BESIDES the point," he said, "He committed murder and we've gotta take him in."

"And he committed murder SEVERAL times over there across the ocean for us, serving the United States government and fighting for our country, our freedom. You wanna tell me he's gotta be brought in for that too?" she pressed.

"No," Briggs answered, "That's different-,"

"It's NOT different," she insisted, "He killed to avenge the loss of his loved one, Briggs. Hell you'd MUTILATE anyone stupid enough ta go after your sister."

He didn't say anything and she said, "That's what I THOUGHT. Now can I trust you or not?"

"The government has the team convinced. The team wants him DEAD, Andi," he informed her.

"Then UN-convince them," she stated, "Now I'm gonna hang up, Briggs."

"NO! No, Andi, you can't just-," he started before she shut her phone, cutting him off.

Swagger watched as Rhodes shook her head and set her phone over on the nightstand.

"Shit's getting complicated," she said, not looking up at Swagger.

"It's BEEN complicated for a year," he informed her as he walked over from his spot in the doorway.

"Well shit's getting deep then," she rephrased her previous statement.

"It's BEEN deep," he replied.

"Well pick some damn slogan that involves shit and that's it," she told him.

He sighed and said, "Welcome ta the club, Rhodes."

"Well your club fuckin' sucks," she huffed before flopping back on the bed.

He waited for her to cry out in pain and she just groaned, "Owwww…" in a strained voice.

"You're gonna hafta let ME lead on this one," he told her, "I've been here before."

"Fine," she replied, "But I don't like this ONE bit."

He chuckled lightly. Oh he KNEW she didn't. She didn't like giving authority over to ANYONE. SHE liked calling all the shots. This was going to be one LONG period of hiding.

**Well, as Bob Lee Swagger would say: If you ever want to read more, review or message me and let me know what you think. If you have suggestions for future chapters, I'll definitely take a look at them. If I like any of them, I might use them and be sure to give you credit in the chapters I use them for. But, if I don't get reviews or messages, you don't get more chapters. I hate to be a bitch but that's the way it works.**


End file.
